Contents

Background

The main feud leading into WrestleMania X8 involved Triple H against the Undisputed
ChampionChris
Jericho and Stephanie McMahon. At the Royal
Rumble, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed
Championship on the same event where Triple H earned his
opportunity to compete for the Undisputed Championship at
WrestleMania by winning the 2002 Royal Rumble match, last
eliminating Kurt
Angle.[5]
The following night on Raw, Triple H interrupted Jericho and
warned to prove him that he's worthy enough to be in the main
event.[6]
Meanwhile, some hostility between Triple H and his wife Stephanie
was starting to show, with the face Triple H tired of
Stephanie's heel characteristics.[6][7]
In order to recover their relationship, Stephanie suggested on
Raw that the two should renew their wedding vows on the
following week. At first Triple H refused, but Stephanie revealed
that she was pregnant,
making him change his mind.[8]
To further prove it, the two met a doctor on the next episode of
SmackDown! with ultrasound images.[9]
On the February 11 episode of Raw just before the wedding,
Triple H was met with a phone call by his mother-in-law Linda McMahon, who
had sent him a video tape revealing that the doctor was in fact an
actor and that Stephanie was not pregnant. At the wedding, Triple H
turned on Stephanie and attacked her along with her father Vince McMahon,
announcing that their marriage was now over.[10]
During these weeks, Kurt Angle was given a match with Triple H's
WrestleMania title shot on the line at No Way Out.[9]
In revenge for the ruined wedding, Vince granted Stephanie the
chance to be the special guest
referee for the match.[11]
At No Way Out with clear bias from Stephanie, Kurt Angle defeated
Triple H for the title shot.[12]
The following night on Raw, WWF co-owner Ric Flair granted Triple H
a rematch with Stephanie barred from the ring, enabling him to
regain his title shot at Chris Jericho.[13]
On the February 21 episode of SmackDown!, Jericho met with
Stephanie and put their differences in the past, ending with
Stephanie accepting Jericho's proposal to be his new business
partner.[14]
To further the feud, Jericho later speculated that he ended the
marriage by causing Triple H's quadriceps muscle to (legitimately) tear
during their tag titles match on the May 21st 2001 edition of Raw
Is War, thus diverting Triple H's attention to his wife.[15]
In the divorce settlement for the two, it was announced that the
assets would be split between them "fifty-fifty" to Stephanie's
disgust. Among the assets were Triple H's first wrestling robe,
Stephanie's Corvette (which Triple H later gave
to her with half of it cut off) and Triple H's bulldog Lucy.[16]
Stephanie managed to win Lucy in the settlement and later on the
March 11 episode of Raw sent Jericho to walk the dog.
Displeased about this, Jericho tied Lucy to a limousine and ordered
the unknowing driver to buy some air fresheners, running Lucy over
into a critical condition by accident. Wanting retribution, Triple
H stormed into the arena and tried to attack Stephanie but was met
with some chair shots to his recovered leg by Jericho.[17]
On the following episode of SmackDown!, Stephanie noted
that the chair shots had left Triple H's quad in a condition that
one false move in his WrestleMania match could reinjure his
quadriceps once again. At the end of the show, Triple H and Jericho
had a brawl in the ring that almost ended with a Pedigree on Stephanie.
However, Jericho saved her and locked the Walls of Jericho on Triple H, leaving the
show with the advantage.[18]

The secondary feud built up in the lead to the event pitted The Rock and Steve Austin against the New World
Order (Hollywood Hulk
Hogan, Kevin Nash
and Scott Hall). The
Rock's involvement with the nWo started when at No Way Out, a photo
request from Hogan for his
son turned into a trade of insults.[12]
On the following episode of Raw, The Rock interrupted
Hogan's address to the crowd and challenged Hogan to a match at
WrestleMania. When Hogan accepted and shook hands with his future
opponent, The Rock kept the hold on and hit the Rock Bottom on Hogan.
Before The Rock could leave the arena, Hall and Nash ambushed Rock
and spray
painted the nWo initials on The Rock's back. With medics
attending to The Rock and loading him into an ambulance van, the
nWo furthered the attack by chaining up all possible exits and
driving a truck through the van with The Rock trapped inside.[13]
Steve Austin's involvement also commenced at No Way Out, when after
having their gift of beer refused, the nWo interfered with Austin's
Undisputed Championship match against Chris Jericho, helping
Jericho to win before spray painting the nWo initials on Austin's
back.[12]
Austin finally got his revenge on the February 21 edition of
SmackDown! when he chased the nWo out of the ring with a
tire iron. Austin
manages to catch Hall and attack him with the tire iron but Hogan
and Nash saved Hall from being run over by Austin's pickup truck.
After the nWo found their limousine spray painted "What?" by
Austin, Stone Cold kidnapped Hall and closed the show by
embarrassing him in the middle of the ring with "3:16" spray
painted on his back.[14]
On the following episode of Raw, Hall challenged Austin to
a match at WrestleMania which Austin accepted afterwards.[15]
The feud between Austin and the nWo continued back and forth for
the next couple of weeks with Austin attacked by Hall twice with a
cinder block[15]
and a wrench,[19]
while Austin fired a netgun at
Nash before beating down Hall.[20]
On the March 7 episode of SmackDown!, The Rock made his
return and immediately challenged Hogan for a fight. Nash and Hall
held Hogan back, leaving Hall to challenge for a match instead.
Rock's match with Hall ended in a three-on-one attack by the nWo.
The nWo's attack was stopped by Stone Cold, however, who saved The
Rock with the aid of a steel chair.[21]
On the March 11 edition of Raw, Rock and Austin took on
the nWo in a Handicap match,
resulting in Hogan pinning The Rock after a leg drop.[17]

Another major feud for WrestleMania X8 was the rivalry between
The Undertaker
and the WWF co-owner, Ric Flair. The feud started over The
Undertaker's ambush on The Rock during the build up to No Way Out,
with Undertaker giving The Rock a Chokeslam and a Tombstone
Piledriver onto a car. Shortly afterwards, Ric Flair openly
detested The Undertaker's actions.[9][10]
At the No Way Out event, Flair interfered with Undertaker's match
against The Rock, finally hitting Undertaker with a lead pipe to
aid The Rock in victory.[12]
Far from pleased over this result, The Undertaker challenged Flair
to a match at WrestleMania. Flair refused, stating that he is an
owner and no longer a wrestler.[13]
However, Undertaker tried to convince Flair by attacking select
members of Flair's friends and family. Following a match on the
February 25 edition of Raw, Flair's friend Arn Anderson was
ambushed by The Undertaker during his road agent
duties.[15]
The Undertaker followed this the following week by attacking
Flair's son David,
threatening that the rest of Flair's children would follow.[19]
Upon this attack, Flair accepted the match on the March 7 edition
of SmackDown!. Later that night the two ended up brawling
into the audience, resulting in Flair punching out a fan by
accident. As a result, Flair was arrested to Undertaker's
delight.[16]
On the March 11 episode of Raw, Flair's rival co-owner
Vince McMahon asked for an emergency board meeting with the WWF board of
directors citing that Flair's attack of a fan was unacceptable
and that either he or Flair should have absolute authority and
power over the company. With Flair still keen on taking on
Undertaker at WrestleMania, CEO Linda McMahon had no choice but to give
Vince total control over the company. Despite this, Linda also
stated that the ownership situation will also be reviewed after
WrestleMania with a final decision.[17]
To add further insult, Vince McMahon booked David Flair in a match
against The Undertaker on the March 14 episode of
SmackDown!. The Undertaker almost gave David a Last Ride, but was stopped
by Ric Flair who saved his son with some steel chair shots.[18]

The Hardcore ChampionMaven defended his
title next against Goldust in a Hardcore
match. The match ended up short with Goldust standing on the
ring apron, preparing to hit a downed Maven with a trash can lid.
However on his turn, Maven had his own can lid to use on Goldust,
effectively knocking each other out. With Maven down and Goldust
outside of the ring, Spike
Dudley came out and pinned Maven for a three count. Under the
title's 24/7 rules, Spike became the
new Hardcore Champion.[24][26]
His celebration was short lived when Crash Holly came out and chased Spike
through the crowd with Maven and Goldust shortly following the two.
In a promotion for the show's main event, rock band Drowning Pool made
a live performance of "Tear Away" with a video package playing
in the background.[28]
After the performance, the show cut to backstage where Crash Holly
and Spike Dudley continued to fight. Al Snow tried to interfere by driving a golf cart (along with
referee Teddy
Long) towards the two but ended up crashing into some
boxes.[26]
Spike successfully fought off Crash by throwing him into a steel
door, but ended up getting kicked by The Hurricane who swung off a rope.[28]
Hurricane then pinned Spike to become the new Hardcore Champion
under 24/7 rules.[26]

The fourth match was Kurt Angle versus Kane. During the match, Angle successfully
hit Kane with Kane's signature flying
clothesline. Confidently, Angle tried another but Kane
countered with a clothesline of his own. Later on, Kane lifted
Angle up for a Tombstone
Piledriver but Angle grabbed a hold of Kane's mask, distracting
him enough for Angle to hit an Angle Slam. Angle locked
on the ankle lock on Kane, which
was stopped when Kane reached the ropes.[28]
With Angle still holding the foot, Kane used the other foot to hit
an Enzuigiri.[27]
A top rope attack by Kane was prevented when Angle rushed to the
corner and hit a belly to belly
suplex on him.[24]
Kane tried to go for a Chokeslam but Angle reversed it into a
roll-up and with the ropes as leverage, Angle won the match.[25]

Ric Flair took on The Undertaker
afterwards in a No Disqualification
match. The match started with a brawl outside the ring with
Flair's back getting smashed into the ring post.[25]
Undertaker tried his Old School
maneuver on Flair, but Flair retaliated by pulling him off the top
turnbuckles.[28]
Later on in the ring, Flair locked Undertaker in a figure-four leglock.
Undertaker, however, countered it by holding Flair's throat and
hitting a Chokeslam. Near the end of the match, Arn Anderson dashed
out into the ring and hit a Spinebuster on The
Undertaker. Despite this, the move only gave Flair a two-count and
soon after, Undertaker locked Anderson in a Dragon sleeper. Flair
broke them up with a few chair shots on Undertaker's back. The
Undertaker retaliated with a big boot and failing a
Last Ride attempt,
Undertaker hit the Tombstone Piledriver on Flair and pinned him to
increase his WrestleMania winning streak to 10-0.[27][28]

Edge versus
Booker T was
the sixth match for the night. Booker T gained the advantage early
on in the match. However, Edge recovered by countering Booker's top
rope attack with a Hurricanrana.[28]
Edge followed this by going up on the top ropes again and
connecting a spinning heel kick on
Booker T.[27]
Later on, Booker T tried to defeat Edge with the Scissors Kick but only
gained a two-count, leaving Edge to regain his momentum. After
performing his own version of Booker's Spinaroonie, Edge won the
match with an Edgecution.[28]
Backstage, a cautious Hurricane was interviewed by Jonathan
Coachman. The Hurricane's sidekick, Mighty Molly, shortly appeared and
suggested the two should go to their Hurri-Cycle. Just as Hurricane
headed to that direction, Molly smashed a frying pan onto the back
of his head and pinned him to become the new Hardcore Champion
under 24/7 rules.[22]

The seventh match was between Steve Austin and Scott Hall. With Kevin Nash in Hall's
corner, Austin was left having to fend off both wrestlers.[22]
The nWo's teamwork enabled Hall to give Austin an Irish whip into a
turnbuckle Nash exposed.[24][28]
Austin hit a Stone Cold Stunner on
Hall but as the referee counted, Nash pulls the referee out of the
ring and beats Austin down. Austin returns with a Stunner to both
Nash and Hall but another pin attempt on Hall is prevented when
Nash elbow drops the second
referee.[26]
Hall's Razor's Edge
attempt was reversed by into a back drop onto the
outside of the ring. Eventually, Nash is forced to leave the
stadium by a group of WWF officials. Hall then hit Austin with his
own Stunner for a two-count, but Stone Cold retaliated with two
quick Stunners of his own for the win.[25]

The match between The Rock and Hollywood Hulk Hogan, dubbed "Icon vs.
Icon"[29],
was next. Despite the portrayals by Rock and Hogan as the face and heel for the match
respectively, the Canadian crowd chose to cheer Hulk Hogan over The
Rock instead.[24][25]
During the match, The Rock locked on the Sharpshooter,
causing Hogan to tap out. However, the referee was down and unable
to acknowledge the submission. The Rock let go of the hold and
tried to revive the referee, but Hogan gave him a low blow followed
by own version of The Rock's finisher, the Rock Bottom for a two-count.[26]
The two tried their respective finishers, the Rock Bottom and the
leg drop but each kicked
out. After two more Rock Bottoms and a People's Elbow, The Rock
pinned Hogan and won the match. After the match, the two shook
hands in respect. As The Rock left the ring, Kevin Nash and Scott
Hall came and attacked Hogan. The Rock returned and saved Hogan
from further attack. As a sign of respect, The Rock stopped Hulk
from leaving the ring and asked him to pose for the crowd, turning Hogan back
into a face again.[24]

The penultimate match for the night was a Triple Threat match
between the Women's ChampionJazz, Trish Stratus and
Lita. Near the end of
the match, a Stratusfaction
attempt from Trish on Lita was prevented when Lita threw Trish into
the corner and out of the ring.[26]
With Lita by the corner, Jazz followed and hit a then climbed the
top turnbuckle and delivered a Fisherman's Superplex, allowing her to pin Lita
and remain Women's Champion.[25]
At the parking lot, Christian gets ready to leave the stadium in a
taxi. However, Maven pulled Christian out and quickly pinned him to
win the Hardcore Championship. Maven then hopped into the taxi and
left, leaving him the final Hardcore Champion for the night and
Christian in another tantrum.[25][27]

An attendance record setting 68,237 fans at the SkyDome for
WrestleMania X8

The main event of the night was the Undisputed Championship match between
Chris Jericho
and Triple H. For his
entrance, Triple H had Drowning Pool perform their version of his
theme song, "The Game", live.[24]
With Triple H's leg bandaged, both Jericho and Stephanie
McMahon gave numerous shots at the leg during the match. Triple
H outsmarted the two by dodging Jericho's attack, causing him to
collide with Stephanie who was standing on the apron.[26]
Outside the ring, Triple H went for the Pedigree on Jericho through the announcers'
table. However, Jericho reversed it into a back drop, sending
Triple H through the Spanish announcers' table.[28]
Stephanie tried to hit Triple H with a steel chair but had it
removed by referee Earl
Hebner. Stephanie pushed Hebner aside but then, she was met by
a Pedigree from Triple H.[27]
Jericho tried his own Pedigree on Triple H but ended up having it
reversed into a catapult.[28]
Triple H then hit the Pedigree on Jericho and pinned him to become
the new Undisputed Champion.[25]

Aftermath

After WrestleMania, the WWF board of directors made their final
decision over the control of the company. Due to the conflicts
between Vince McMahon and Ric Flair making bad business, Linda
McMahon proposed a brand extension, essentially
splitting the entire WWF roster into two separate entities. Vince
took control of the SmackDown! brand while Flair controlled the Raw
brand.[30]
A draft was held with each owner
would get a total of thirty picks between the wrestlers.[31]
The draft was held on the March 25 edition of Raw, while
the brand extension officially began on April 1.[31][32]

Triple H's feud with Stephanie would conclude on the March 25
episode of Raw when he defeated her and Jericho in a Triple Threat match
for the Undisputed Championship. By pinning her, Stephanie was
forced to leave the WWF by accordance to the match
stipulations.[31]
Triple H's feud with Jericho would continue with Jericho
interfering with Triple H's championship match at Backlash
against Hollywood Hulk Hogan.[33]
Their feud would finish with a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment
Day.[34]

Until the brand extension separated both parties, The Rock and
Hulk Hogan feuded with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. On the final
SmackDown! before the brand extension, the team of Rock,
Hogan and Kane defeated Nash, Hall and new nWo member X-Pac in a six-man
tag match.[35]
The Rock left shortly after the WWF draft for three months to go on
a media tour to promote his movie, The Scorpion King.[36]

After being drafted to the Raw brand, Steve Austin would get
himself involved in the feud between The Undertaker and Ric Flair,
fighting Undertaker at Backlash for an Undisputed Championship
shot.[33]
The storyline itself evolved into a feud between Austin and Flair,
with the nWo's involvement on Flair's behalf.[37]